Feedback to Feed Forward: 31 Strategies to Lead Learning - Paperback

by Amy Tepper (Author), Patrick W. Flynn (Author)

Feedback that works--for leadership that makes a difference.

As a leader, you know that feedback is essential to teachers' growth and development. But crafting the right feedback can be daunting. How do you conduct comprehensive observations, accurately analyze lessons for effectiveness, and develop high-leverage action steps that bring lasting change to teacher practices and student outcomes?

This how-to book, designed for leaders in all roles and at all experience levels, provides a dynamic yet practical leadership model focused on precisely those key tasks. Features include

• Comprehensive explanations of standards and descriptions of discrete core skills
• Explicit think-alouds, ready-to-use strategies, and field-tested lesson examples
• Evidence-collection notes--with templates--from live observations
• Feedback samples across grade levels and content areas
• Replicable case studies for professional learning

Simply inspecting teaching practice through observation might be easy; providing feedback that feeds forward and promotes growth is far more challenging. With this comprehensive learning tool, you'll use feedback to make the most of your role as a leader of learning--for both teachers and students.

Feedback to Feed Forward has been recognized for focusing on practices that have high effect sizes and will help you translate the groundbreaking Visible Learning research into practice. When educators use strategies that have high effects (greater than 0.40), they can accelerate student achievement. The power of the Visible Learning research lies in helping educators understand which factors have the highest impact on student achievement so that educators can begin making strategic decisions based on evidence that will utilize their time, energy, and resources to the best extent possible. The Visible Learning research is based on Professor John Hattie's unmatched meta-analysis of more than 1,600 research reviews comprising 95,000 studies, involving more than 300 million students--the world's largest evidence base on what works best in schools to improve student learning. From that research, Dr. Hattie identified more than 250 factors that have an impact on student achievement.

Author Biography

Since its inception, ReVISION Learning has worked with over 52 CT districts, The State Departments of Education in CT & NY, and school districts and communities in NJ & LA. Through our work with over 800 evaluators and through completion of over 7,500 classroom observations, we have developed a key set of guiding principles that support the necessary shift from a system of evaluation based on inspection and assessment to one of continuous cycles of improvement through self-reflection, quality reviews of practice, and aligned professional learning. ReVISION Learning has developed multiple web-based tools to support scalable, ongoing professional learning of supervisors. The ReFLECT system and ReVIEW Talent Feedback Systems, LLC offer supervisors evidence collection tools and interactive support for the development of observation and feedback skills. This year, Patrick and Amy have begun ReVISION Online Learning, designing and offering online modules for teachers and instructional leaders for asynchronous online, facilitated and/or blending training around effective instruction.


Patrick Flynn
Has been a teacher, teacher leader, curriculum director and executive program director in K-12 settings in over ten different states.
Specializes in systems planning, developing coherent implementation models to ensure continuous cycles of improvement for districts and schools.
Has developed multiple professional learning designs to support administrators and teachers in districts across the United States including the highly successful Peer Validation model implemented in New Haven Public Schools in New Haven, CT and with Newark Public Schools in Newark, NJ.
Has consulted on school improvement initiatives internationally in the United Arab Emirates with the Abu Dhabi Education Council.
Currently: Developing learning systems with state departments of education, partners, and delivering professional learning in 6 districts

Amy Tepper
Has a unique career pathway. Previous positions and opportunities have left Amy with a varied and broad combination of instructional skills and understandings about how students and adults learn: former blended, online and traditional classroom teacher, administrator, school developer and director, online learning provider and developer, statewide high school redesign implementer and coach, and K-12 literacy expert
For over four years, has solely focused on 1:1 administrator coaching, group calibrations for observation and feedback practices, instructional strategies, evaluation validation, and classroom observations which has broadened her skill set and understanding tenfold.
Currently: Coaching in 10 districts, CAS Leadership Principal Series